When Rick Berman, Michael Piller, and Jeri Taylor set out to create the third live-action Star Trek spinoff they were faced with an enormous challenge. The franchise had become so weighted down by more than two decades of stories that it was difficult to find a new way to approach things, and Gene Roddenberry’s no-conflict rule was proving more and more difficult for the writers. Throwing the ship to the other side of the galaxy was one way of starting over with new worlds to explore and new aliens to encounter. But in addition to this an effort was made to break the shackles of the no-conflict rule by forcing Starfleet officers to co-exist with outsiders—the rebel Maquis. It was a good idea in theory, though the success of the approach is certainly questionable. In this episode of The Ready Room we discuss the third-season Voyager episode “Worst Case Scenario” and how the Starfleet-Maquis relationship played out in reality.

In news we cover Nichelle Nichols’s 79th birthday, Avery Brooks and Sir Patrick Stewart confirmations for Creation’s 2012 conventions, IDW’s Star Trek Ongoing #4, clues about the next movie that have been hidden in the comics, and we preview two more tracks off of Five Year Mission’s Year Two. Plus Greg sings in Klingon and an unexpected musical guest pops in.